The Wallabies have dropped down to sixth place on the World Rugby Rankings as Wales moved up above them with victory over Ireland in Cardiff. It was a busy weekend of international rugby, with the Six Nations, European Nations Cup, Women's Six Nations and Under-20 Six Nations all taking place.

Wales' 23-16 victory over Ireland has set up a thrilling climax to the Championship, as England beat Scotland 25-13 at Twickenham, so all three sides are tied at the top of the table on six points.

Australia, who haven't played a game since November, have dropped to their lowest ever position since the (IRB) World Rugby Rankings were introduced in October 2003.

Ireland remain at third, the highest of the northern hemisphere nations, despite the loss.

England's win over Scotland had no impact on their rating due to Scotland being place well below them, at number 10, on the rankings. There was also a less than ten points margin, which comes into effect. France beat Italy 29-0 in Rome and have improved their rating by over a point, but remain in seventh place, while Italy stay in 14th.

The four matches that took place over the weekend did have some impact, with Belgium the biggest movers of the last seven days after their 17-14 win over Division 1B leaders Moldova. That victory lifts Belgium two places to 27th – above Zimbabwe and Hong Kong – and leaves Moldova in 30th, albeit much closer now to Kenya below.

The only other positional change came as a result of Portugal’s 19-8 loss to Spain on home soil. The Portuguese have slipped one place to 23rd with RWC 2015 bound Namibia the beneficiaries. Spain remain 21st after the Division 1A victory in the Iberian derby.

Georgia ran out 33-0 winners over 19th-ranked Russia in Tbilisi, but only improved their rating by less than a tenth. They are still closer to Italy above them in 14th than they began the weekend after the Azzurri lost to France.

Romania had to dig deep to edge Germany 17-12 in Heidelberg, a result which resulted in a gain of less than a tenth to leave them stationary in 17th.

Below, a quick recap of results and rankings from the weekend of international rugby

Wales kept their Championship hopes alive as they beat Ireland in a Six Nations classic. The game was a close fought and extremely physical affair with the home side putting in a masterclass in defence, but early on it was the Welsh attack that shocked Ireland the most.

Within the first five minutes some quick ball was accompanied by a skilful pass from Dan Biggar and just like that, Wales were on attack and Jonathan Davies found Johnny Sexton in front of him.

With eyes locked on the Irish ten, the Welsh powerhouse, whilst barely breaking stride, proceeded to plant a solid palm into Sexton's ribcage, sending him airborne.

To Sexton's credit he was straight back to his feet immediately, back in the defensive line, but even if his body absorbed the blow, there's no denying it must have dented the pride of such a ferociously competitive player.

As we learned recently with the All It Takes short film, Sexton relentlessly strives to be the best.

Davies' hand off is reminiscent of a Sonny Bill Williams fend whilst playing for Canterbury a few years back, but was perhaps not quite as dramatic as Dean Mumm's monster hand-off on Marcel Coetzee, both of which can be seen on page two of this post.

We've also added a few more must see fends and hand-offs in the Related Posts below this

Catch up on what went down in Round 5 of Super Rugby this past weekend, as the Shortball takes us through some try scoring highlights, then looks at the best of the bunch, shows us some of the biggest tackles of the round, and includes a wrestling move that probably shouldn't be repeated.

In fact Liam Gill has since been banned for two weeks for his flip, suplex clean out on Brumbies scrumhalf Nic White. It's amusing to see, but he was yellow carded and has since been told that even though White landed safely, it's considered illegal lifting. More on that soon.

Just a week earlier Italy were celebrating at Murrayfield, but their Rome homecoming didn't offer much to be delighted about, as a scrappy match went one way, with visitors France bouncing back to ease to a comfortable 29-0 victory.

France avoided being on the losing side three times in succession following back to back defeats to Ireland and Wales. This result never looked in doubt, despite a poor first half that thanks in part to the wet conditions, included multiple handling errors (reportedly 37 in total) from both sides.

When France did finally turn it on, they did so in style, with fullback Scott Spedding sparking a lovely counter attack that ended with big Yoann Maestri trotting over in the corner.

Mathieu Bastareaud powered over on full time, and the pressure on coach Philippe Saint-Andre was eased somewhat, with his side still in with a mathematical chance of snatching the title.

"In the first half we were able to wear them out physically and we were at their throats in defence," Saint-Andre said after the game. "It wasn't a perfect match but we'll take all the positives from it and today we had a real French team."

The weather hampered the occasion, but Italy coach Jacques Brunel didn't use that as an excuse.

"The rain wasn't our problem, the French defence was, especially in terms of winning the ball and shaping our game. That's where we had problems, not with the weather," he said.

France are now on four points with a match to play away to England next weekend. Italy, on two points, host Wales earlier in the day. England, Ireland and Wales all have six points, and along with France, will be hoping for a perfect performance and a bit of luck come the final day.

Scotland led at halftime in the Calcutta Cup clash at Twickenham but a late try and ten points from the boot of George Ford gave England a 25-13 victory, taking them top of the Six Nations table going into a final weekend that will go right down to the wire.

England's win at home didn't come about as easily as they would have liked, with Scotland making them work had for a victory that included two disallowed tries.

Jonathan Joseph scored early on with some neat footwork but that good start was cancelled out when Scotland's Mark Bennett scored for the visitors. Geore Ford also crossed, before Jack Nowell's late effort proved enough for victory, and sets things up nicely for next week.

With Wales' win over Ireland, any one of the three sides can still win it in the final weekend of play. England's advantage at the top is due to having a points difference of +37 over Ireland's +33 and Wales' +12. All three sides are on six points, so it's all to play for in a week's time.

Wales take on Italy in Rome first up, then Ireland against Scotland at Murrayfield, with England hosting France in the third game of the weekend, knowing exactly what they need to achieve for overall victory. If they can do that, it will be their first Championship title since 2011.

If Ireland beat Scotland and Wales notch up a big total against Italy, England will need to come up with a strong performance against a French side that will be plaing for pride, and would love nothing more than upsetting the English at Twickenham.

Wales put in a sensational defensive effort to end Ireland's unbeaten run with a 23-16 victory at the Millennium Stadium. Scott Williams scored a try and Leigh Halfpenny kicked five penalties for the home side, while Ireland picked up a penalty try.

Johnny Sexton was a bit off with the boot early on but got three penalties and a conversion, while Dan Biggar grabbed a well taken drop goal.

Wales' early 12-0 lead was chopped down by Sexton, and the sides went into the halftime break at 15-9. Wales held Ireland out for long periods of play but the Williams try proved vital to their cause.

"I thought it was admirable the way we came back," Ireland coach Joe Schmidt said. "If it was disappointing at all, it was at the start. We were down 12-0 without having really got into the game."

Ahead of the final weekend, which now involved a three-horse race, New Zealander Schmidt added:

"England are at home again next week against France and they're going to be pretty tough to catch. Wales have got to go away to Italy and I think that will be tough for them but they'll be looking to enhance their points differential as much as they can."

View extended highlights below, with more clips to follow soon. Game of the tournament so far? Who would you say are favourites to win the Championship now?

We recently posted a great video featuring Johnny Sexton, tracking his rise to prominence from schoolboy to Ireland's most valuable player. This latest video from the popular All It Takes series sees the inspirational Paul O'Connell ahead of his 100th Test.

O'Connell, who's career has seen him win some of the most prestigious domestic and international honours in the game, is set to make his 100th cap this weekend against Wales, as Ireland continue their quest for a second successive Six Nations title for the first time in their history.

With contributions from the people closest to him; including Paul's father Michael O'Connor, Ronan O'Gara and Johnny Sexton - this short film documents O'Connell’s journey from the local parks of Limerick to today, as he approaches his 100th cap for Ireland.

"I played my whole career with [Paul] and I've seen what one person can bring to an organization. He's very special in terms of the ability to deliver the right message [to the squad] at the right time," said former Irish international out-half, Ronan O'Gara.

As he warmly reminisced of their time together as Munster, Ireland and Lions teammates, O'Gara remarked; "At times you can see steam coming out of his big red head."

An Official Ambassador for Three, O'Connell said; "I’ve never struggled for motivation. 100 caps have flown by; I wish I had 100 more in me!

"Some of the best days of my life have been in green, and I'm immensely proud to reach this milestone and am looking forward to creating even more memories with this team. When it's over, I'm sure I’ll allow myself some time for reflection and this documentary will help me do that."

“#AllitTakes - Paul O’Connell” is part of Three’s Irish international rugby team sponsorship activity. This is the third instalment of the series which also features Robbie Henshaw and Johnny Sexton.